Shikhar Dhawan showed his worth a month ahead of the World Twenty20 with a maiden half-century as India scored a series-levelling 69-run victory over Sri Lanka in their second Twenty20 international of a three-game series.
The left-hander, who had failed to score a fifty in 12 previous games, struck 51 off only 25 deliveries with two sixes and seven fours to provide the early impetus. He added 75 runs for the opening stand with Rohit Sharma (43) as the home side notched 196-6 after being put in to bat.
Sri Lanka, which had won the first game in Pune by five wickets on a lively pitch, could only manage 127-9 in reply.
Dhawan got to his fifty in only 22 balls, pulling and driving with flourish. His dismissal was a soft one as he guided a short ball from seam bowler Dushmantha Chameera straight to wicketkeeper Dinesh Chandimal in a bid to find the boundary at third man.
Dhawan's stand with Rohit came off just seven overs and his dismissal slowed the innings a little with India reaching the 100-run mark off 11 overs.
Rohit fell to a fine return catch by Chameera and Ajinkya Rahane (25) fell when looking good for more, leaving Suresh Raina and rookie allrounder Hardik Pandya to get some quick runs.
Raina struck 30 off 19 deliveries and Pandya 27 off 12, figuring in an important 59-run stand for the fourth wicket off only 4.2 overs.
But India's charge toward the 200-run mark was halted by seamer Thisara Perera who produced a hat-trick in the 19th over, dismissing both set batsman as well as Yuvraj Singh, all caught while trying big hits.
Sri Lanka's innings stuttered early on with offspinner Ravichandran Ashwin getting Tillakaratne Dilshan stumped by captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni without scoring and pace bowler Ashish Nehra removing Danushka Gunathilaka (2) and Seekkuge Prasanna (1) in successive overs for a score of 16-3 in the fourth over.
Chandimal (31) and Chamara Kapugedera (32) did add 52 runs for the fourth wicket but both fell off successive deliveries from Ravindra Jadeja as Sri Lanka was reduced to 68-5 in 11.3 overs and left with little hope of a comeback.
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